Truss



(No Model.)

' E. JAMES.

TRUS$. No. 395,278. Patented Dec. 25, 1888.

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UNrrn States Patent trier,

ELI JAMES, OF HUDSON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AUGUSTA L. MILLER,

OF LIVINGSTON, NEW YORK.

TRUSS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,278, dated. December 25, 1888. Application filed September 22, 1886. Serial No. 214,282. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELI JAMES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hudson, in the county of Columbia and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trusses; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a method of supporting the protruding parts in a hernia by means of a truss of peculiar c011- struction, consisting of an encircling belt pro vided with a pad or presser having an elastic cup-shap ed inner surface with rounded edges, which is removably attached to the belt, and having, further, a means of increasing and diminishing the pressure through the agency of thumb-screws moving an interior ball, as will. hereinafter more fully appear in the specification, be illustrated in the drawings, and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my device; and Fig. 2 is a cross'section of the same, showing the means of attachment to the belt and the method of applying the pressure to the parts.

The pad B is concave or cup-shaped in form interiorly, has a rounded edge, and is made of elastic material, and contains the ball A, which, through the agency of the screw H, is forced down into the opening of the pad or cup. It is made of rubber or any other suitable material. O is the body-belt, having at one extremity the perforated end or part 0 and at the 0pposite end the usual buckle or attachment to secure the belt around the body, and it also has the guide 0, through which the holder D passes, which latter is secured to the belt by the screw F and retained by the clamp f.

The holder D is a metallic bar or plate having threaded perforations to receive the thumb-screws E, which enter screw-threaded openings in a plate, G, abutting against the ball A inside the pad, and by moving the said screws E the ball may be released. Said screws hold the plate G in position. A screw, I-I, passing through an opening in the center of the holder 1), enables the ball A to be ad vanced or retracted. This screw H has a seat, Gr, secured in the ball A, and as the screw H is turned the ball is pressed against the rupture or removed therefrom.

The operation is as follows: The belt having been passed around the body and buckled or otherwise attached, it is obvious that the pad may be placed over or applied to the rupture and pressed down over the same, where its elasticity retains it, when, by moving the thumb-screw H, the requisite amount of pressure will be obtained. As the rim of the cup is elastic and yielding, it will be seen that a vacuum is formed when it is applied to the parts, and through the medium of the screw H the ball may be forced down at any degree of pressure desired, or entirely raised from the rupture, which is not possible where a spring is used to impart a constant or increasing pressure. By means of the screw F the cup may be removed from the belt for cleaning.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, in a truss, of the elastic cup-shaped pad adapted, by means of its elasticity, to be pressed down upon the rupture for the purpose of expelling the air within, and to resume its normal shape when the pressure is removed, thus forming a vacuum within the cup, the convex presser or ball adjustably secured to its bottom, and the presserscrew H, securing the presser within the pad, and whereby it maybe forced outward against the rupture or inward away from it, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELI JAMES. Witnesses:

WILBER MILLER, WM. M. BROWNELL, 

